Hail to the Chief!

The highest-ranking judge in the country visited the SU College of Law recently. He is none other the the Chief Justice himself, Justice Artemio V. Panganiban. He is the top official of the Judiciary, one of the 3 co-equal branches of our government. It is a basic law principle that decisions of the Supreme Court form part of the legal system of the land. Thus, whatever the Supreme Court says becomes our law. And there he was, the head of the Supreme Court, speaking before us. Logically, it would seem to follow that words that come out from Panganiban's mouth become our law. Absurd as it was, in some ways, that's just how it felt rubbing shoulders with a powerful Filipino. He was like King Midas. But this time, it was whatever he said which turned into gold.

Aspiring lawyers as we were, the scene was like basketball fans meeting Michael Jordan. We got his autograph and had our photos taken with him. He was a celebrity which people outside the field of law didn't even know.

The Supreme Court, and more specifically Chief Justice Panganiban, has gained much popularity the past several months because of the handful of landmark cases it had handled, especially the political cases which saw the highest tribunal go against the president herself. This series of historical decisions proved the independence of the Judiciary as it has never shirked away from the responsibility of settling controversial issues in our government. As they say, the Supreme Court (and perhaps the Senate, too) is the last bulwark of democracy.

It was the Dr. Jovito R. Salonga Center of Law and Development of the Silliman University College of Law which had invited him to the university. And for the center's inaugural lecture, It was the Chief Justice himself who spoke about "Access to Justice" in general and basically talked more about the programs he has initiated in the Supreme Court.

During the lecture, Chief Justice Panganiban kept on declaring that "Silliman University is the best law school in the country." Everyone knew that he was just kidding and that he was just trying to please the audience. At first it was funny, but he kept on repeating that "joke" that it became annoying for everyone who attended the lecture. It came to a point when it sounded sarcastic and insulting. In fact, he made it sound that Silliman was even worse than it's current number 8 rank (out of a hundred or so law schools) in the country.

If you look at the funny side of it, since that declaration was made by the Chief Justice himself, then it should be true, since whatever he says becomes a law. We all know SU is still far from being one of the top schools in the country, but much has been done to steer the school in that direction. Hopefully, some day, saying that "Silliman University is the best law school in the country" won't sound that funny anymore.